Voluntary blood donation preferences in China: A discrete choice experiment among experienced and inexperienced donors.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Due partly to an ageing population, China faces an increasingly dire blood shortage crisis requiring greater voluntary blood donations. A better understanding of blood donation preferences can inform blood donation policies and potentially increase donations. We used an online survey and discrete choice experiment to achieve our study objective: identify the most influential structural facilitators and barriers to voluntary blood donation in China. MATERIALS AND METHODS: First, we identified six structural attributes (travel time, venue, donation volume, paid leave, scheduling and gifts) that were hypothesized to influence voluntary blood donation; attribute selection was based on a literature review and qualitative interviews. Second, a d-efficient design with 36 choice sets and 9 blocks was developed. Participants were asked to complete four choice sets, and in each choice set, they were asked to choose from three options: two voluntary blood donation scenarios and a 'Do not donate blood' option. Study participants were recruited through an online survey platform company in China. Voluntary blood donation preferences and preferences by blood donation history were estimated with random-parameter logit models and interaction terms. RESULTS: In 2022, 1185 individuals enrolled in the study. Most participants had college education (92%). Generally, participants preferred longer paid leave, lower blood donation volumes and gifts after donation. Based on interaction analyses, experienced and inexperienced donors exhibited similar preferences. CONCLUSION: Campaigns to increase voluntary blood donation rates in China should consider implementing paid leave after voluntary blood donation, lower blood donation volumes and small gifts conferred after donation.

Functional Characterization of the MeSSIII-1 Gene and Its Promoter from Cassava.

Soluble starch synthases (SSs) play important roles in the synthesis of cassava starch. However, the expression characteristics of the cassava SSs genes have not been elucidated. In this study, the MeSSIII-1 gene and its promoter, from SC8 cassava cultivars, were respectively isolated by PCR amplification. MeSSIII-1 protein was localized to the chloroplasts. qRT-PCR analysis revealed that the MeSSIII-1 gene was expressed in almost all tissues tested, and the expression in mature leaves was 18.9 times more than that in tuber roots. MeSSIII-1 expression was induced by methyljasmonate (MeJA), abscisic acid (ABA), and ethylene (ET) hormones in cassava. MeSSIII-1 expression patterns were further confirmed in proMeSSIII-1 transgenic cassava. The promoter deletion analysis showed that the -264 bp to -1 bp MeSSIII-1 promoter has basal activity. The range from -1228 bp to -987 bp and -488 bp to -264 bp significantly enhance promoter activity. The regions from -987 bp to -747 bp and -747 bp to -488 bp have repressive activity. These findings will provide an important reference for research on the potential function and transcriptional regulation mechanisms of the MeSSIII-1 gene and for further in-depth exploration of the regulatory network of its internal functional elements.

Machine-Learning-Assisted Discovery of Mechanosynthesized Lead-Free Metal Halide Perovskites for the Oxidative Photocatalytic Cleavage of Alkenes.

Lead-free metal halide perovskites can potentially be air- and water-stable photocatalysts for organic synthesis, but there are limited studies on them for this application. Separately, machine learning (ML), a critical subfield of artificial intelligence, has played a pivotal role in identifying correlations and formulating predictions based on extensive datasets. Herein, an iterative workflow by incorporating high-throughput experimental data with ML to discover new lead-free metal halide perovskite photocatalysts for the aerobic oxidation of styrene is described. Through six rounds of ML optimization guided by SHapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP) analysis, BA2CsAg0.95Na0.05BiBr7 as a photocatalyst that afforded an 80% yield of benzoic acid under the standard conditions is identified, which is a 13-fold improvement compared to the 6% with when using Cs2AgBiBr6 as the initial photocatalyst benchmark that is started. BA2CsAg0.95Na0.05BiBr7 can tolerate various functional groups with 22 styrene derivatives, highlighting the generality of the photocatalytic properties demonstrated. Radical scavenging studies and density functional theory calculations revealed that the formation of the reactive oxygen species superoxide and singlet oxygen in the presence of BA2CsAg0.95Na0.05BiBr7 are critical for photocatalysis.

Autotoxicity in Pogostemon cablin and their allelochemicals

Abstract The effects of allelochemicals and aqueous extracts from different Pogostemon cablin (Blanco) Benth., Lamiaceae, parts and rhizosphere soil on growth parameters, leaf membrane peroxidation and leaf antioxidant enzymes were investigated in patchouli. P. cablin seedlings were incubated in solutions containing allelochemicals and aqueous extracts from different patchouli parts and its rhizosphere soil at several concentrations. Firstly, the growth parameters were significantly reduced by the highest concentration of leaves, roots and stems extracts (p < 0.05). As compared to the control, plant height was reduced by 99.8% in the treatment with leaves extracts (1:10). The malondialdehyde content increased greatly when patchouli seedlings were subject to different concentrations of leaves, roots and stems extracts; meanwhile, the superoxide dismutase and peroxidase activities showed an increase trend at the low concentration, followed by a decline phase at the high concentration of roots and leaves extracts (1:10). What's more, leaves and roots extracts had a more negative effect on patchouli growth than stems extracts at the same concentrations. Secondly, the total fresh mass, root length and plant height were greatly reduced by the highest strength of soil extracts. Their decrements were 22.7, 74.9, and 33.1%, respectively. Thirdly, growth parameters and enzymatic activities varied considerably with the kinds of allelochemicals and with the different concentrations. Plant height, root length and total fresh weight of patchouli were greatly reduced by p-hydroxybenzoic acid (200 μM), and their decrements were 77.0, 42.0 and 70.0%, respectively. Finally, three useful measures on reducing the autotoxicity during the sustainable patchouli production were proposed.

Dynamic accumulation of sesquiterpenes in essential oil of Pogostemon cablin

Sesquiterpenes Essential oil produced by patchouli was one of the most important naturally occurring base materials used in the perfume industry, containing various sesquiterpenes. Three different parts (leaves, stems and roots) of Pogostemon cablin (Blanco) Benth., Lamiaceae, were profiled in relation to different maturation phases in this paper, evaluating the variations in content of the major sesquiterpenes in the essential oil. Twelve sesquiterpenes were analyzed by GC-MS throughout the maturity of P. cablin. Patchouli alcohol (37.54%-51.02% in leaves, 28.24%-41.96% in stems and 14.55%-35.12% in roots) was the major sesquiterpene during the maturation of the plant. The average content of several other sesquiterpenes (α-bulnesene, α-guaiene, seychellene, β-humulene and caryophyllene) were higher than 3% among leaves, stems and roots. The content of essential oil, patchouli alcohol, α-bulnesene and several other compounds were highly accumulated at 210 days of maturation after cultivation of P. cablin. Thus, this period was the best moment to exploit the maximum level of these high value-added compounds in P. cablin. Furthermore, our results indicated that the essential oil extracted from leaves of P. cablin has the highest potential to be used in the perfume industry.